India: Mecca Masjid blast - is there a pattern to 'Hindu terror' acquittals or has justice prevailed? (Apr 16, 2018, The Print)

I remember I was among the first to reach the scene after the blast in May 2007. The police picked up and took into custody nearly one hundred young Muslims. In many cases, the families were not even aware till much later where the youth were being kept and questioned. It was as though the investigators were hoping that questioning so many would yield them some leads. There were allegations of torture, of people being coerced to give confessions. Subsequently, they were booked, not for the Mecca Masjid blast case but in several other random cases of conspiracy or watching videotapes of Gujarat with the alleged intention of creating trouble.Then came Aseemanand's confession in a very dramatic turn of events. Tales of how he had met Abdul Kaleem inside jail did the rounds. Kaleem had been allegedly picked up for a crime he did not commit. Aseemanand is said to have had a change of heart and confessed. That too was later retracted. The idea of 'Hindu terrorism' surfaced at that point. In the course of a botched-up investigation, witnesses turned hostile and now 11 years later, all the accused have been acquitted due to lack of evidence.
Not only do the people not have any closure about who bombed the Masjid, they will lose faith in the entire justice system because of a possibly shoddy investigation and inability to collect material evidence. It calls to question the way the investigation was conducted and the trial proceeded. To say now that there is nothing called 'Hindu terror' is to send out a message that terrorists in India come from only one community. This is a massive setback for the premier terrorism investigation agency in the country, the NIA. It puts a question mark on the quality and integrity of the agency.
https://theprint.in/talk-point/talkpoint-mecca-masjid-blast-is-there-a-pattern-to-hindu-terror-acquittals-or-has-justice-prevailed/50084/

India:: Mecca Masjid Blast Case: Glaring Loopholes Emerge in the CBI Investigation - by Ravi Kaushal

Mecca Masjid Blast Case: Glaring Loopholes Emerge in the CBI Investigation - By Ravi Kaushal (Apr 23, 2018, News Click)

After the acquittal of Swami Aseemanand and other accused in the Mecca Masjid Blast Case, serious questions over the investigation have started popping up.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the agency which investigated the matter till April 2011, failed to produce basic evidence to prove the culpability of Aseemanand and other Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh activists in the matter.
A thorough observation of the Judgement delivered by NIA court shows that CBI, in its investigation, did not follow the standard procedures to collect evidence.
https://newsclick.in/mecca-masjid-blast-case-glaring-loopholes-emerge-cbi-investigation

Letter to India's Home Minister NIA’s failure in securing the prosecution of perpetrators of bomb blast in Makka Masjid, Hyderabad in 2007

To

Shri Rajnath Singh,

Hon.ble Minister,

Ministry of Home Affairs,

Government of India,

New Delhi.

The Director General,

National Investigation Agency,

New Delhi.

The Deputy Inspector General,

National Investigation Agency,

Hyderabad Branch.

Sir,

Sub: NIA’s failure in securing the prosecution of perpetrators of  bomb blast in Makka Masjid, Hyderabad in 2007. Request for immediate filing of appeal in higher court against judgment of lower court judgment for retrial/reinvestigation of the case for the sake of justice for the kin of victims – Reg.

It is a matter of great concern that a bomb was planted and exploded by terrorists in Hyderabad’s Makka Masjid on 18^th May 2007 claimed lives of 8 innocent citizens and around 58 innocent citizens injured badly. All citizens of India were shaken up by this act of terror  and expressed their sympathy to the victims and anguish against the act.

Hyderabad city police registered an FIR in Hussaini Alam Police Station in 2007, the said case was handed over to the CBI on 9^th June 2007 later the same case was transferred to the NIA (National Investigation Agency) on: 7^th April 2011 with a hope that the government of India will provide justice to the victims through NIA.

On 16^th April 2018 the IV Additional Metropolitan and Session judge (NIA special court) in Hyderabad delivered his judgment in the above case and acquitted to all accused in the case due to insufficient evidence provided by the NIA. This has shocked the citizens of Hyderabad as NIA failed to provide justice to victims in a terror case after a lengthy investigation of 11 years. This clearly shows the lack of preparation, commitment and dedication of the agency to fight against the terrorism.

We the concerned citizens strongly believe that the Government of India should adopt a zero tolerance approach to all acts of terrorism, thereby sending a clear message that terrorism is unacceptable in all its forms. The Government should also take practical steps to prevent and combat all kinds of terrorist acts. Those practical steps include a wide array of measures ranging from strengthening state capacity to counter-terrorism activities in the country.

The failure of Government agencies to secure prosecution of perpetrators and thereby justice for victims of terrorism is a gross violation of various articles of The Constitution of India, Resolutions of SAARC convention and other International laws.

The Constitution of India states that: 

1.      “Article 14 - The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law and equal protection of laws within the territory of India.” As you can see, this right is reserved not just for Indian citizens but to 'any person' within the territory of India”

2.      Article 15 - The state shall not discriminate against people on the basis of religion, race, sex, place of birth or any of them.

3.      Article 21 - Deals with Protection of life and personal liberty.

4.      Article 51- The State shall strive for the promotion and maintenance of international peace and security, just and honorable relations between nations, respect for international law and treaty obligations, as well as settlement of international disputes by arbitration.

The SAARC convention (Suppression of Terrorism) Act 1993, - This Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism was signed on behalf of the Government of India at Kathmandu on the 4th day of November, 1987.

UN has passed several resolutions to combat terrorism to which the Government of India is a signatory.

We strongly believe that India as a major partner in the SAARC group of countries should play an important role to promote Peace, Harmony and combating terrorism. However failure of government agencies to secure prosecution of perpetrators of terrorist acts will send a wrong signal in International community about the India’s stand on fight against terrorism.

We feel common people especially minorities of the country are losing faith on the Judiciary and investigation agencies. It is thus the responsibility of Government of India to restore confidence of the community by providing justice as soon as possible as justice delayed is justice denied.

We would like to remind you that Section 21 (1) of National Investigation Agency Act 2008 provides 30 to 90 days time to file appeal against Judgment, Sentence and Order in the Honorable High Court.  There we demand that the Government of India should:

1.      Order NIA to file appeal against the judgment in the Honorable high court for the retrial/re investigation of the case.

2.      Issue orders for re-investigation of the whole episode. NIA has failed to investigate, produce evidence and hired an inexperienced public prosecutor due to which the case was resolved after 11 years.

3.      Instruct the high court to monitor complete investigation and trail of the case.

4.      Ensure innocent people should not face harassment during the course of investigation.

We hope the Government of India will take positive and immediate action in the matter as the real culprits are not punished till now and they victims of the dastardly act and their kin have not received justice till now.

Thanking You,

S.Q.Masood

Social Activist

India: What's Behind the Acquittal of Swami Aseemanand in the Mecca Masjid Blast Case - An inexperienced lawyer with ABVP connection as the main prosecutor

The Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/hyderabad-mecca-masjid-blast-nia-prosecutor-n-harinath-has-abvp-link-swami-aseemanand-5141754/

Mecca Masjid blast: NIA prosecutor N Harinath has ABVP link

 

On Monday, an NIA court in Nampally acquitted five accused, including Swami Aseemanand, in the case. The NIA declined comment on the empanelment of Harinath — associated with only the Mecca Masjid bombing case — as a prosecutor.

Written by Rahul Tripathi | New Delhi | Updated: April 18, 2018 7:21:30 am

 Mecca Masjid blast: NIA prosecutor N Harinath has ABVP link The Mecca Masjid: the site of the blast (Express photo by Raaj Dayal)

NIA special public prosecutor N Harinath, engaged for the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case, was associated with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) as a student in Hyderabad and said Tuesday that he has continued to help the RSS-affiliated student body organise events.

On Monday, an NIA court in Nampally acquitted five accused, including Swami Aseemanand, in the case.

Harinath, who took over as the NIA prosecutor when the Mecca Masjid blast trial started in 2015, told The Indian Express: “When I was pursuing my second year in law I joined ABVP but have never been associated with the BJP. I have since been donating and helping them (ABVP) organise events.”

Read | Mystery red shirt found with unexploded IED at site never reached NIA

The NIA declined comment on the empanelment of Harinath — associated with only the Mecca Masjid bombing case — as a prosecutor.

Harinath also said he did not face any pressure from anyone to dilute the case. “From day one, we were working to secure the conviction in the case. When I joined in 2015, the trial was about to start and I was engaged by NIA after scrutiny of my application. I have provided them with the list of cases I have dealt in the past. I have been practising in criminal court since 1994 and have been a special public prosecutor for the Enforcement Directorate since 2011.”

Read | Five including Aseemanand acquitted, judge who delivered verdict resigns

According to Harinath, the NIA court while acquitting the accused observed that the confession of Aseemanand recorded before a magistrate in Delhi was not fair. “The entire prosecution case was based on the confession of Aseemanand, which was recorded before a magistrate in Delhi. In his deposition to court, the magistrate said Aseemanand was in police (CBI) custody when he was brought before him and after recording his statement he was taken into the police custody. The court concluded that it is not a fair confession.”

Under section 164 CrPC, the confession cannot be recorded before a police officer.

Aseemanand acquitted in Mecca Masjid blast case Aseemanand, one of the five acquitted Monday. (File Photo)

“The court observed that the case pertained to Hyderabad and the CBI could have got Aseemanand’s statement recorded before the magistrate here when he was in jail. The magistrate who recorded Aseemanand’s statement was a prosecution witness in the case,” he said.

Read | Among acquitted in Mecca Masjid blast: RSS leader convicted in Ajmer blast last year

Another reason they failed to secure the conviction, Harinath said, was witnesses turning hostile. “Had these witnesses supported the prosecution case, we would have secured a conviction,” he said.

India: Is No One Guilty in the Mecca Masjid Blast?

Explainer: Is No One Guilty in the Mecca Masjid Blast? 

All those accused in the case were acquitted on Monday.

by

Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta

https://thewire.in/security/mecca-masjid-blasts-case-verdict-explainer

India: Five years after being acquitted in the Mecca Masjid bomb blast case ... treated as outcastes

The Hindu
Hyderabad, September 26, 2013

Treated as outcastes and looked at with suspicion

Five years after being acquitted in the Mecca Masjid bomb blast case, life continues to be a struggle for Mohd. Abdul Raheem (32), now a grocery store owner. The trader was arrested in the Mecca Masjid blast case in 2007 and had to spend nearly six months in prison before being released on bail.

At the time of the arrest, this Malakpet resident was driving auto rickshaw for a living. He was one among the several youth from Old City who faced charges of criminal conspiracy in the Mecca Masjid blast case. Memories of the ordeal are still etched freshly in Rahim’s mind.

“I was kept in a farm house and tortured for days, and later police presented me before a court and sent me to jail where I spent six months,” he recalls.

Those six months changed Raheem’s life forever.

“After my release, my family members became social outcasts. Fearing police, relatives, friends and neighbours avoided us. Strangers looked at us with suspicion, and I became an outsider in my own neighbourhood. I had no option but to shift to a new place to start life afresh,” Raheem, now father of a two-year-old boy, says.

Raheem lived in the Malakpet area where terrorist Shahid Bilal resided. The trader maintains that like any other person in the neighbourhood, he also knew Shahid Bilal.

“Police picked me up on mere suspicion. They could have released me after interrogation, but they jailed me, which ruined my life,” he says. On the recommendations of the National Commission for Minorities, the government had offered Rs. 3 lakh as compensation to those who were falsely implicated, arrested and jailed.

“Can the government wash off its hands by paying some money? If it was not for my family’s deteriorating financial condition after my arrest, I would have rejected the compensation. If the government is really sincere, it should punish the guilty police officials,” he demanded.

It was March, 2008, and Moutasim Billa recalls stepping out of his home when a police team in plainclothes dragged him into a waiting four-wheeler and sped away. The M.Tech student maintains that for the next few days he was subjected to third degree torture at a farm house on the city outskirts.

“Police wanted me to confess that I was involved in the Mecca Masjid blast. How can I do it when I did not have any role in it?” the second year M. Tech student asks. At the time of the arrest, Moutasim was pursuing B-Tech degree.

“I spent 100 days in jail before being granted bail by the court. I lost one full academic year due to this, and my family was shattered,” he recalls. The 27-year-old has been steadfast in rejecting the compensation of the government.

“The compensation was a bribe to keep my mouth shut. Why can’t the government punish the guilty police officials for foisting a false case? he claimed. Frightened by the possibility of police targeting his friends, Moutasim, these days, has become a social recluse. “I do not meet people frequently or make friends, because if I do, then they could be targeted by police,” he says.

High Court cancels bail of ex RSS members accused in Mecca Masjid blast

New Indian Express, April 18, 2013

The Andhra Pradesh High Court Thursday cancelled the bail granted by a lower court to two former RSS members accused in the 2007 terror attack at the historic Mecca Masjid here. The high court asked the sessions court to reconsider its orders, granting bail to Lokesh Sharma and Devender Gupta.

The high court verdict has come as a relief to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which opposed the bail on the ground that it could hamper the investigations. The NIA had also argued that freeing the two accused on bail could also have an impact on the probe in the Malegaon, Ajmer and Samjhauta Express blasts as they are also suspected to be involved in all these terror attacks.

Nine people were killed and over 60 injured in the powerful bomb blast during Friday prayers on May 18, 2007, at the 17th century mosque here. The high court on Dec 4, 2012, suspended the bail granted by the IVth Additional Metropolitan Sessions Court here on Nov 27. Sharma and Gupta, former members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), are among six accused arrested by the NIA in the case.

Swamy Aseemanand, Bharat Mohanlal Rateshwar alias Bharat Bhai, Tejaram and Rajender Choudhary alias Samundar are the other accused in the judicial custody. Two others, Sandeep V. Dange and Ramchandra Kalsangra, are untraceable and on the run. According to the investigators, another key accused, Sunil Joshi, was gunned down by his associates in December 2007 following some differences.

Mecca Masjid blast accused in Nepal?

(Times of India, May 12, 2012)

Mecca Masjid blast accused in Nepal?

Two key conspirators of the Mecca Masjid bomb blast of 2007 who have remained untraced so far have reportedly fled the country and gone underground in Nepal. Efforts by sleuths of the National Investigation Agency to nab the two - Sandeep Dange alias Paramnand and Ramchandra Kalsangra alias Ramji - have met with failure. "One of the NIA teams that went to Nepal came back empty handed.
But the agency has not given up hope and is pursuing all leads in the neighbouring country," police sources said. The NIA had issued look-out notices for the two and announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh on each. Dange and Kalsangra were RSS pracharaks hailing from Indore, Madhya Pradesh. They are alleged to have been involved in planting a bomb in Mecca Masjid that exploded on May 18, 2007, killing nine persons and injuring several others.
The two are also wanted in bomb blasts that took place on Samjhauta Express and at Ajmer dargah, Malegaon and Modasa. Earlier the CBI that was investigating the case before it was transferred to the NIA had arrested three accused - Devendra Gupta, Lokesh Sharma and Naba Kumar Sarkar alias Swami Aseemanand.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/13104089.cms

Police announce award to track down Hindutva fundamentalists for The Mecca Masjid Bombing in Hyderabad

The Times of India

Mecca Masjid blast case: CBI announces reward of Rs 10 lakh

PTI, Jun 22, 2010, 07.18pm IST

NEW DELHI: CBI announced a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh for providing information on each of the two accused, Sandeep Dange and Ramchandra Kalsangra, in the Mecca Masjid Blast in Hyderabad in 2007.

"The Central Bureau of Investigation has announced a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh to any person providing information leading to the arrest of each of the two absconding accused," CBI spokesperson Harsh Bhal said.

Both Dange alias Parmanand and Kalsangra alias Ramji alias Vishnu Patel are residents of Indore, Madhya Pradesh.

After registering the case on June 9, 2007, CBI took over the custody of two persons -- Devender Gupta and Lokesh Sharma, who are also accused in Ajmer Dargah blast case.

"Both these accused were earlier arrested by ATS Rajasthan in the said blast case," Bhal said adding that the names of Dange and Kalsangra figured during their interrogation.

Gupta is in CBI custody till June 30, 2010 while Sharma is in judicial custody.

The Mecca Masjid blast on May 18, 2007 had claimed nine lives, whereas five people were killed in subsequent police firing on protesters near the mosque.

"The name of the informant shall be kept secret," the official added.